The Peace and Social Action Committee is sponsoring a Courageous Conversation at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 24. The theme of our Courageous Conversation will be the Green New Deal and Public Banking. Some members of the Committee suggested that FCNL study these issues in order to include policy statements about them in the revised The World We Seek.

As many of us know, climate scientists recently warned that there is much less time than previously projected for reducing carbon emissions to avoid a global climate catastrophe. The World We Seek already embraces many of the Green New Deal proposals. Yet it is silent about the need for financial reform – which is one of its central element, and includes public banking, viewed by its proponents as essential to support the rest of a Green New Deal.

The World We Seek also already calls for “economic policies that are environmentally sustainable.” Yet there’s currently no shared understanding of the kind of policies that are needed. This is why the Collaborative wants the Policy Committee to establish a process to discern the economic policies that FCNL needs to promote. It’s also why the Collaborative wants FCNL staff to investigate a possible role of public banking in a sustainable economy, even though it’s not yet included in The World We Seek.

Our invited guest for the Courageous Conversation is Walter McRee, one of our nation’s leading advocates for public banking. We will discuss the current financial system and why the proponents of public banking see it as an important way to address many of the concerns about the financial system.